Marc White’s Wanderers faced Dover Athletic at Meadowbank Stadium for our first of three consecutive home fixtures in February.
With a fantastic home record and atmosphere this season, we were determined to make it 13 home wins in 15 games this season. The first glimpse of a goal came from the visitors, their top scorer, George Nikaj, dragged his shot wide of Foulkes’ right post in the 8th minute, neither side were settled into the game in the early stages.
Dover looked to grow into the game as they had a flurry of attacking opportunities, with the most dangerous of them coming in the 20th minute, a dangerous flick by Nikaj who forced a fine stop out of Harrison Foulkes. We then replied with a shot outside the box via Patrick Casey, but the shot flew over the bar.
Shortly after, a threatening attack, initiated by Dennon Lewis, led to a goalmouth scramble with James McShane unable to get the shot off at goal and Dover were able to handle the pressure. An unfortunate end to Patrick Casey’s evening due to injury saw Jason Prior enter the pitch in the 33rd minute.
We began to grow into the game and held more possession in the opponent’s half towards the end of the first half, but no attack led to a threat at goal. A late challenge by Sheriff on the halfway line saw him draw Dover’s third yellow card of the game in the 42nd minute, the foul being drawn by Jimmy Muitt. The first half ended with both teams left frustrated, with neither team providing quality in the final third.
The second half saw immediate changes, as McManus and Vincent entered in a double substitution for Sidwell and McShane. Marc White wanted an improvement from the first half. The game was desperate for a goal and we provided just that. A deep free kick in the 50th minute from Frank Vincent saw the ball whipped in and fell to Brennan Camp at the back post who smashed it on the volley into the back of the net, scoring his 5th goal in the league this season, we struck first early in the second half.
The match started to raise in intensity as chances started to fall for both sides, with Dover’s Nikaj and Frank Vincent with shots saved from both keepers in short succession.
The 70th minute saw a double substitution, with McCallum and Norville-Williams leaving the pitch for Francomb and a debut for George Knight, who joined us from Bracknell Town in January. It didn’t take long for George Knight to get involved, he started a dangerous attack in the 76th minute as he played Dennon Lewis through on goal, but the chance was saved as was Muitt’s rebound.
We looked to have control of the game in the latter stages of the match. The debutant couldn’t help himself as he got on the scoresheet on his debut to extend our lead. A beautiful delivery by Frank Vincent once again found George Knight at the back post, whose extended leg saw the ball strike the Dover net.
The first threat to Foulkes’ goal came from substitute Coker in the 85 th minute, where his low curling effort hit the post and was unlucky to not land in the side netting. A fairly uneventful game was capitalised by our resilience as we ended the match with a 2-0 victory against Dover. We had more control of the game in the second half which led to us finding the back of the net on two occasions and sealing another three points at home.
Our home record continues and we look to extend it on Saturday where we face a Farnborough side fighting to stay in the league.